Method for presenting information contained in messages in a multimedia terminal, a system for transmitting multimedia messages, and a multimedia terminal

ABSTRACT

A method for presenting information contained in messages in a terminal (MS). In the method, the message includes at least one component. The message is transmitted to a terminal (MS) in a system for transmitting multimedia messages. In the method, a presentation model (SMIL) is formed to contain information related to the presentation of each component attached in the message. The aforementioned presentation model (SMIL) is supplemented with a reference about the location of each component in the message, and the aforementioned presentation model (SMIL) is attached to the aforementioned message.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/761,040, filed on Jan. 16, 2001, now allowed, the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The disclosed embodiment relates to a method for presenting informationcontained in messages in a user interface of a multimedia terminal, inwhich method a message contains at least one component, and whichmessage is transmitted to the multimedia terminal in a system fortransmitting multimedia messages. The disclosed embodiment also relatesto a system for transmitting multimedia messages, comprising means fortransmitting a message to a multimedia terminal which comprises a userinterface for presenting information contained in the messages, and eachmessage contains at least one component. Furthermore, the disclosedembodiment relates to a transmitting multimedia terminal which comprisesmeans for forming messages of at least one component, and means fortransmitting the messages. The disclosed embodiment also relates to areceiving multimedia terminal which comprises means for receivingmessages, and a user interface for presenting information contained inthe messages, and each message contains at least one component.

Wireless communication networks and the Internet network expand fast,and the number of their users is increasing. It is possible to introduceInternet services in digital mobile stations of wireless communicationnetworks, such as so-called media phones, for example by the WAPtechnology. The WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is an open standardwhich is designed to support globally a majority of digital mobilecommunication networks, such as the GSM (Global System for Mobilecommunications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), PDC (PersonalDigital Cellular), CDMA IS-95 (Code Division Multiple Access), TDMAIS-136 (Time Division Multiple Access), and third generation networks,such as the WCDMA (Wideband COMA) and CDMA-2000. Because the WAP systemwas developed only recently and because the specifications of the WAPsystem define in some cases only the framework for differentimplementations, there are no known solutions for implementing certainfunctions of the WAP system.

In the WAP system (FIG. 1), the terminal using the WAP protocol forexternal communication, the wireless terminal MS (wireless terminal,mobile station), here a so-called WAP terminal, can communicate with aserver in the Internet network. One example to be mentioned of such awireless terminal available as a WAP terminal is Nokia 7110. The displayof the WAP terminal is relatively small, which restricts the quantity ofinformation to be displayed on the display at a time. This causesproblems e.g. when browsing Internet home pages which are typicallydesigned to be presented on the display of an ordinary computer.

The connection between the WAP terminal and the Internet network isimplemented by a WAP gateway which functions as a means for transmittingmessages between the WAP terminal MS and the Internet network 18. Ifnecessary, the WAP gateway 15 converts the messages addressed by the WAPterminal MS to the Internet network 18 to messages complying with anInternet protocol, such as the TCP/IP protocol (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol). In a corresponding way, messages addressedfrom the Internet network 18 to the WAP terminal MS in the wirelessnetwork 12 are converted, if necessary, in the WAP gateway 16 tomessages complying with the WAP protocol (e.g. WSP, Wireless SessionProtocol). The WAP terminal MS can be, per se, any device which uses theWAP protocol for external communication, such as a mobile station of acellular network or a computer terminal communicating with the wirelessnetwork 12 for example via a mobile station of a cellular network.Communication forms supported by the WAP and intended for thetransmission of information over the radio channel are called bearers.In the different networks supported by the WAP, these include, e.g.,short messages (SMS, Short Message Service), data calls (CSD, CircuitSwitched Data) and packet radio or GPRS services, the USSD service(Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), as well as other bearersdefined in the WAP specifications.

With respect to the protocols, the WAP system is a hierarchical system.Both the WAP terminal and the WAP gateway comprise a WAP protocol stackto be implemented by means of software, comprising certain WAP protocollayers. The WAP protocol layers include e.g. the WAE layer (WirelessApplication Environment), the WAP layer (Wireless Session Protocol), theWTP layer (Wireless Transaction Protocol), and the WDP layer (WirelessDatagram Protocol). The corresponding WAP protocol layers of the WAPterminal and the WAP gateway communicate with each other to implementreliable data transmission between the WAP terminal and the WAP gatewayover the defined bearer.

Users of a computer terminal communicating with the Internet networkhave already for a long time had the chance to retrieve multimediacomponents, such as short video clips and audio clips in electricalformat. As the transmission rates are increased and the properties ofmobile stations are improved, interest in the service of transmitting amultimedia message has now arisen also in the mobile network. However,for example in connection with the WAP system, no solution has beenpresented so far to implement displaying of the multimedia message.

SUMMARY

In the Internet network, it is known to use the hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) which can be used for presenting e.g. the location,content, color and size for multimedia information to be presented onInternet pages. However, the HTML language does not offer a possibilityto determine the time of effect of multimedia components, such as thetime of displaying a text or the time of playing a sound. Furthermore,with the presently known versions of the HTML language, it is notpossible to define transparency presentations in which the multimediapresentation consists of several pages. However, to make thepresentation of various advertisements and other information moreeffective, there is a need to produce e.g. variable parts in the contentof pages as well as a need to combine several pages to one presentation.Recently, some solutions have been developed, such as the JAVAprogramming language, whereby it is possible to implement variableeffects of some kind. In view of WAP terminals, however, it is onedrawback of such solutions that their implementation requires arelatively large processing and storage capacity in the terminal. Thisrestricts the introduction of the JAVA programming language particularlyin portable terminals. In presentations implemented with the JAVAprogramming language, it is not only the actual presentation informationbut also the JAVA program for presenting the information that istransmitted.

A fast increase in the use of portable multimedia terminals increasesthe need to implement versatile messages, such as multimedia messages,in a multimedia terminal.

It is an aim of the present disclosed embodiment to provide a method forpresenting messages and a multimedia terminal for presenting messages.The method according to the present disclosed embodiment ischaracterized in that in the method, a presentation model is formed tocontain information related to at least one component connected with themessage, that said presentation model is supplemented with a referenceto the location of data related to presenting at least one component insaid message, and that said presentation model is added to said message.The system for transmitting multimedia messages according to the presentdisclosed embodiment is characterized in that the system comprises meansfor forming a presentation model in the message, the presentation modelcomprising information related to presenting at least one component insaid message. The transmitting multimedia terminal according to thepresent disclosed embodiment is characterized in that the multimediaterminal also comprises means for forming a presentation model in themessage, which presentation model comprises information related topresenting at least one component added in the message, and whichpresentation model is supplemented with a reference to the location ofinformation related to presenting at least one component in saidmessage. Furthermore, the receiving multimedia terminal according to thepresent disclosed embodiment is characterized in that the multimediaterminal also comprises means for interpreting a presentation modelformed in a message, which presentation model comprises informationrelated to presenting at least one component, and which presentationmodel is supplemented with a reference to the location of informationrelated to presenting at least one component in said message, whereinthe multimedia terminal comprises means for finding out saidpresentation model from said message. The disclosed embodiment is basedon the idea that the presentation parameters of the components added tothe messages are added to the message, and these parameters are formedon a description language.

With the present disclosed embodiment, significant advantages areachieved in comparison with solutions of prior art. When applying themethod according to the disclosed embodiment, a wireless multimediaterminal can be used to present messages, and the messages can also besupplemented with components varying in time. The implementation of thisdoes not require such a large processing and storage capacity as whensolutions of prior art are used. Furthermore, the method according tothe disclosed embodiment can be used to form presentations consisting ofseveral pages to be presented in a multimedia terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the disclosed embodiment will be described in moredetail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a model of the WAP system according to prior art,

FIG. 2 illustrates the implementation of the method according to apreferred embodiment of the disclosed embodiment in the WAP system,

FIG. 3 illustrates the implementation of essential parts of a mobilestation implementing the method according to the disclosed embodiment,

FIG. 4 a shows, in a block chart, functional blocks of setting up amultimedia message in a transmitting multimedia terminal,

FIG. 4 b shows, in a block chart, functional blocks of interpreting amultimedia message in a receiving multimedia terminal,

FIG. 5 a shows the rough structure of a notification message,

FIG. 5 b shows the rough structure of a connection set-up message,

FIG. 6 a shows an example of a multimedia page,

FIG. 6 b shows the rough structure of a multimedia message formed by themethod according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosed embodiment,and

FIG. 6 c shows another rough structure of a multimedia message formed bythe method according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosedembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following, the disclosed embodiment will be described by using asexamples multimedia messages with one or several multimedia components.However, the disclosed embodiment is not limited solely to multimediamessages, but the messages used can also be other messages with one orseveral components. Moreover, this component does not need to be amultimedia component but it can also be another component containinginformation.

FIG. 3 illustrates parts which are essential for the operation of amobile terminal MS applying the method according to a preferredembodiment of the disclosed embodiment. The mobile terminal MS comprisesa processor MPU and parts functionally coupled with the processor: amemory MEM, a user interface UI and a radio part RF. The processor MPUis preferably a microprocessor, a microcontroller or a digital signalprocessor DSP. The memory MEM preferably comprises a non-volatile memory(ROM, read only memory) and a read-alter storage (RAM, random accessmemory). The radio part RF can transmit radio frequency signals, such asmessages complying with the WAP protocol, and receive radio frequencysignals, such as multimedia messages, via an antenna ANT. The userinterface UI preferably offers the user a display and a keyboard forusing the mobile terminal MS.

The software of the mobile terminal MS, including the software relatingto setting up and presenting multimedia messages, is typically stored ina non-erasable memory. On the basis of the software, the processor MPUcontrols the operation of the mobile terminal MS, such as the use of theradio part RF, the presentation of the messages with the user interfaceUI, and the reading of input received from the user interface UI. Theuser interface UI preferably comprises a display DP, a keyboard KB andaudio means AUDIO. The software, which can be implemented in a varietyof ways, preferably comprises program blocks which are responsible forimplementing the different operations. These operations include, e.g.,the operations related to displaying multimedia components contained inmultimedia message to the user, as well as the operations related totransmitting and receiving messages. The multimedia message transmissionservice is implemented in the mobile terminal MS by the processor MPUtogether with the software and memory MEM of the mobile terminal. Theread-write storage is used by the processor MPU as a temporary buffermemory during data processing.

The WAP system according to FIG. 1 is presented above in connection withthe description of prior art. The appended FIG. 2 illustrates theservice of transmitting multimedia messages in a situation in which amobile terminal MS using the WAP protocol for external communication hassubscribed the multimedia message transmission service from a multimediamessage service center MMSC. The multimedia message service center MMSCis a network element, a server, which can be located e.g. in a cellularnetwork or in the Internet network. The multimedia message servicecenter MMSC operates in the multimedia message transmission service as ameans which stores a multimedia message addressed to a mobile terminalMS in its memory. The multimedia message service center MMSC transmits anotification message about the arrival of a multimedia message to themobile terminal MS when it is available.

The multimedia message service center MMSC communicates with the mobileterminal MS via a WAP gateway 15. Physically, the multimedia messageservice center MMSC is preferably located in the same part of theInternet network as the WAP gateway 15. Communication between themultimedia message service center MMSC and the WAP gateway 15 istypically implemented according to the protocols of the Internetnetworks (IP protocols). These include e.g. TCP/IP and HTTP 1.1.

When a multimedia message containing one or several multimediacomponents and addressed to a mobile station MS which has subscribed themultimedia message transmission service from the multimedia messageservice center MMSC, is received at the multimedia message servicecenter MMSC, it stores the multimedia message in its memory andtransmits a notification message 30 to the mobile terminal to notifyabout the stored multimedia message. After this, the user of the mobileterminal MS can retrieve the multimedia message at the best moment oftime, or the message can be transmitted to the mobile terminal MSautomatically without operations by the user. The multimedia componentscan be e.g. text, images, photographs, audio clips, or video clips inelectrical form. One multimedia message can also contain multimediacomponents of different types.

In an advantageous embodiment of the disclosed embodiment forimplementing the notification message 30, a content type which is herereferred to as MMN (multimedia message notification) is used in the WAPsystem. The MMN is a content type which is defined in such a way that itallows the transmission of data both in text format and in binary formatin the same content type. The MMN content type is preferably allocatedan Internet compatible presentation form in the XML format (extensiblemarkup language) and binary format complying with WAP binary coding. Onepossible rough structure of the notification message 30 of the MMN typeis presented in the appended FIG. 5 a in which the notification message30 comprises a general information part 36, fields 37 for expressing theproperties of the multimedia components (two in the example of FIG. 5 a)contained in the multimedia messages.

FIG. 4 a shows, in a reduced block chart, the setting up of multimediamessages in the transmitting device, such as a multimedia terminal MS′,and FIG. 4 b shows the presentation of multimedia messages in amultimedia terminal, such as a mobile terminal MS. The setting up ofmultimedia messages is presented by a modification block MOD which canbe e.g. the user interface UI of the terminal. It contains the necessaryfunctions to present and edit multimedia components, such as images,text, audio and/or video. Thus, the person setting up a multimediapresentation can construct a multimedia page by compiling the desiredmultimedia components, by editing them, if necessary, and by placingthem in the desired locations. The multimedia components are stored e.g.as files which can be retrieved for example from the memory means MEM ofthe multimedia terminal MS, such as from a fixed disk (not shown), orfrom the Internet network, e.g. from a server 20, or multimediacomponents can be built up for example by writing desired text, takingpictures with a camera, recording sounds, etc. FIG. 6 a shows an exampleof such a multimedia page. The multimedia page MP of FIG. 6 a comprisesa picture PIC1 placed in the middle of the page and stored e.g. in afile “PIC1.jpg” and above the picture a text line TXT1 which is storede.g. in a file “TXT1.txt.”

After the multimedia page has been edited to the desired format, it istransferred to a compiling block COMP to form a multimedia file. Thismultimedia file is used to store information about the components whichit contains as well as a model for presenting the components in adesired way in the multimedia terminal of the receiver. The compilationfile formed in the compiling block COMP is preferably stored in thememory means MEM of the device setting up the message, such as themultimedia terminal. In this preferred embodiment of the disclosedembodiment, the format used in the compilation file is the SMIL format(synchronized multimedia integration language), known per se. Thecompilation file is preferably stored as a text file, such as SMIL1.text, but it can also be stored in another format, e.g., in binaryform. The content of the compilation file formed of an example of themultimedia page of FIG. 5 a is, in the SMIL format, the following:

<smil>  <head>   <layout>    <root-layout width=“160” height=“160”/>   <region id=“up” width=“160” height=“20” left=“0” top=“10”/>   <region id=“center” width=“160” height=“120” left=“0”    top=“40”/>  </layout>  </head>  <body>   <img src=“ PIC1 .jpg” region=“center”/>  <text src=“ TXT1.txt” region=“up”/>  </body> </smil>

The texts indicated within tags are data types according to the SMILformat as well as parameters possibly related thereto. In the data file,there is first a <smil> data type which informs that it is a compilationfile SMIL complying with the SMIL format in question. Next, presentationparameters are defined, such as the width (width=160) and height(height=160) of the display field, as well as two named fields of thisdisplay field, their size and location: “up” and “center”. The width ofthe field “up” is defined as 160 and the height as 20. In addition, thelocation of the upper left corner of this field is determined as 0 inthe horizontal direction (left edge) and 10 in the vertical direction.The measurement units are preferably pixels, but also other units can beused, such as percentages of the size of the display field. The width ofthe field “center” is defined as 160, the height as 120 and the locationof the upper left corner as 0, 40. This presentation parameter isfollowed by a data part (body) indicating which multimedia componentsthe page contains and where they can be found. Further, of the visualcomponents (image, video, text), it is indicated in which location onthe page they are placed. Consequently, this example contains two filesof which the image file is placed in the field “center” and the textfile in the field “up”.

This compilation file SMIL and the components related thereto istransferred to the receiver by means of a multimedia message. This isformed in the method according to a preferred embodiment of thedisclosed embodiment in the following way. In the transmittingmultimedia terminal MS′, the compilation file SMIL is transferred to amessage set up block MSG. Of the memory MEM, a space is reserved for amessage buffer SBUF in which the multimedia message to be transmitted isformed. FIG. 6 b shows an example of such a multimedia message in areduced view. At the beginning of the multimedia message, or in anotherdetermined location in the multimedia message, a header HDR is added,containing e.g. address data of the receiver of the message, addressdata of the transmitter, and a reference REF to the location of thecompilation file in the message to be formed. In addition to the header,the data field 0 of the message is supplemented with multimediacomponents, which in this example are an image file and a text file. Thefiles are added either as such, or they can be compressed or convertedto another format. Thus, the message preferably indicates in whichformat the files are attached, so that it is possible at the receivingmultimedia terminal to perform the corresponding inverse operation tothe conversion, to restore the original data format. Furthermore, themultimedia message is supplemented with a compilation file. At thisstage, references to multimedia component files possibly existing in thecompilation file are converted to references to the respectivemultimedia components in this message. In FIG. 6 b, arrows R1 and R2indicate these internal references in the message.

In the multimedia message, it is also possible to transmit multimediapresentations consisting of several multimedia pages. For each page, aseparate compilation file is preferably formed, in which thepresentation model of the respective page is attached. Such multimediapresentations contain for example various images and texts which thereceiver of the message can browse either in a certain order or in adesired order. Thus, the multimedia page is provided with links orreferences to the next page, the previous page, the beginning, and/orthe end. These references are also stored in the compilation files.Thus, when setting up the multimedia message, these references areconverted to correspond to the location of the components of therespective page in the message. FIG. 6 c shows an example of such amultimedia message. It consists of two multimedia pages, thecorresponding compilation files being indicated with the referencesSMIL1 and SMIL2, of which the first contains a reference (arrow R3) toanother page. The components of these pages (references indicated witharrows R1-R5) and the compilation files are also attached to thismessage. It is obvious that the references on different pages can alsobe directed to the same component.

Instead of information contained in the multimedia component, thepresentation model can be supplemented with a search address at thestage when the content of the multimedia message is presented in thereceiving terminal.

After the multimedia message is ready to be transmitted, the multimediamessage is transmitted in a way known as such to the multimedia messageservice center MMSC. From the address data of the message, themultimedia message service center MMSC examines to which mobile terminalMS the message in question is intended. The address data can be e.g. aphone number, an IP address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). When theterminal to receive the message is found out, the multimedia messageservice center MMSC transmits a notification message 30 via the WAPgateway 15 to the mobile terminal MS, to notify about the arrival of amultimedia message addressed to the mobile terminal MS at the multimediamessage service center MMSC.

The notification message 30 is preferably transmitted by using aso-called connection less service supported e.g. by the WAP. In aconnectionless service, such as the short message service (SMS) knownfrom the GSM system, the transmission of a message to the receiver doesnot require setting up of a connection. In the present transmission ofmultimedia messages to a wireless terminal MS according to the disclosedembodiment, however, a connection oriented service is preferably used.

The multimedia message service center MMSC can examine which multimediacomponents are contained in the message and compare them with themultimedia properties of the receiving terminal MS. Thus, in someapplications, the multimedia message service center MMSC can leave suchcomponents which the receiving multimedia terminal MS is not capable ofprocessing, untransmitted. In this context, however, it is assumed thatall the components of the multimedia message are transmitted to thereceiving multimedia terminal MS.

After receiving said notification message 30, the mobile terminal MSfirst starts to set up a connection to the multimedia message servicecenter MMSC (WAP WSP CONNECT), if there is no connection between themobile terminal MS and the multimedia message service center MMSC at themoment. Connection set-up is typically performed in such a way that thewireless terminal MS opens a WSP session with the WAP gateway 15 in away known as such, and the WAP gateway 15 further opens e.g. an IPconnection to the multimedia message service center MMSC. Informationabout the gateway selected by the mobile terminal MS and to be thus usedin the WSP session is transmitted from the wireless terminal MS in a wayknown from the WAP as a bearer indication value in the WSP header field.During opening the WSP session, said information is transmitted duringcommunication between the mobile terminal MS and the WAP gateway 15 e.g.in a connection set-up message 40 (FIG. 5 b).

Information 42 required for setting up a session is transmitted in theconnection set-up message 40. The multimedia message service center MMSCreceives the connection set-up message 40. The multimedia messageservice center MMSC replies to the connection set-up message with anacknowledgement message, in which the mobile terminal MS is notified ifit is possible to set up a connection. Connection set-up can fail forexample when the user of the terminal addressed as the receiver of themultimedia message has no subscriber contract with the multimediamessage service, the phone line is closed e.g. because of unpaid bills,etc.

After a connection has been set up, it is possible to start thetransmission of the multimedia message from the multimedia messageservice center MMSC to the mobile terminal MS. To optimize the radioresources, the mobile terminal MS can select the transmission path whichis most expedient for the transmission of each different multimediacomponent.

After the receiving multimedia terminal MS has received the multimediamessage, the message is processed. At the receiving stage, the messageis dismantled in a receiving block RMSG and preferably stored in amessage buffer RBUF formed in the memory MEM. The processing of themessage takes place e.g. in an interpretation block IP formed in theapplication software of the processor MPU. The multimedia properties ofthe multimedia terminal, such as the display resolution, colorproperties, audio properties, etc. are transferred to the interpretationblock IP.

From the header of the message, the interpretation block IP examines thereference to the location of the compilation file and starts to processthe compilation file. At this stage, the substantially inverseoperations with respect to the compilation stage are executed. Theparameters of the compilation file disclose the presentation parametersof the multimedia message which are compared by the interpretation blockIP with the multimedia properties of the multimedia terminal MS to findout if the multimedia message contains such components which cannot bepresented in the multimedia terminal MS. In this case, such componentscan be by-passed.

After finding out the presentation parameters and comparing theproperties, the interpretation block IP processes the data part, i.e.the multimedia components. With the above-presented example as thecompilation file, the data part consists of an image component and atext component. Thus, the interpretation block IP examines thereferences to these components in the compilation file. The data of theimage component are transferred by the interpretation block IP from themultimedia message to an image memory DMEM which is preferably formed inthe memory means MEM of the mobile terminal, in a space whichcorresponds to the presentation location of the image defined in thecompilation file. The text file is transferred by the interpretationblock IP to a display driver (not shown), in which the text is convertedto corresponding visual information (text) on the display DP of the userinterface UI. In the case of a possible audio component, theinterpretation block IP transfers the audio information to the audiomeans AUDIO of the user interface, where the audio information isconverted to an audible sound in a way known per se.

In the processing of such multimedia messages which contain severalmultimedia pages, the procedure is the following. The interpretationblock IP searches for the data of the page to be presented first andinterprets the page in the way described above. After this, theinterpretation block remains waiting for a command to change the page,entered e.g. by the user with the keyboard KB of the user interface UI.After the command to change the page, the interpretation block searchesfor the data of the next page and interprets that, etc. On the otherhand, the change of the pages can also be automated by defining adisplay time for each page. Thus, time is measured in the multimediaterminal MS, and after the expiry of the display time, theinterpretation block I P is notified of the command to change the page.

In a multimedia presentation, a component can also be allocated a timeof effect, such as a time to display an image or a text or a time torepeat a sound. Furthermore, various components can be synchronized witheach other in time. In such situations, the compilation file is alsosupplemented with data about the time of effect for a component and, ifnecessary, also data about the mutual synchronization of variouscomponents, e.g. the moment of starting to present a component withrespect to the moment of starting the presentation of a page.

The above description dealt with an advantageous embodiment of thedisclosed embodiment, in which the presentation model was formed in theterminal MS′ which transmitted a message; however, the disclosedembodiment can also be applied in such a way that the presentation modelis compiled at the multimedia message service center MMSC beforetransmitting the message to the receiving terminal MS. Also in thiscase, the multimedia presentation can be set up in the transmittedterminal MS′, from which information about the content of the multimediapresentation for compiling the presentation model is transmitted to themultimedia message service center MMSC.

It is obvious that the above description presented only a limited groupof a variety of possible multimedia messages, but the present disclosedembodiment is not restricted solely to the examples presented herein.

The disclosed embodiment can also be implemented in software by makingthe necessary modifications in the program code in the mobile terminalMS and, if necessary, also in the multimedia message service centerMMSC. The computer software products in question can be stored on a datameans, for example in a memory, they can be transferred and they can berun for example in a computer or in the microprocessor of a mobilephone.

The multimedia terminal MS, MS′ can also implement operating systemfunctions. The operating system is implemented as program commands ofthe processor. The operating system is primarily responsible for thecontrols, timings, supervision, etc. of the functions of the multimediaterminal MS, MS′. In addition, the operating system takes care ofstarting the operation of the compiling block, performing the functionsof transmitting and receiving the message, starting the interpretationblock, transferring the message to be processed by the interpretationblock, etc. These operating system functions and their application inconnection with the method according to a preferred embodiment of thedisclosed embodiment are prior art applicable to anyone skilled in theart, wherein their more detailed discussion will not be necessary inthis context.

It is obvious that the present disclosed embodiment is not limitedsolely to the embodiments presented above, but it can be modified withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium encodedwith a multimedia message, the multimedia message comprising: addressdata indicative of a transmitter and a recipient of the multimediamessage; at least one multimedia component within the multimediamessage; and a compilation file comprising: presentation parameters forthe at least one multimedia component, wherein the presentationparameters include information about a time of effect of the at leastone multimedia component, and wherein the information about the time ofeffect of the at least one multimedia component comprises a display timeof an image, a text, or a time of sound; a reference to a locationwithin the multimedia message of the at least one multimedia component;and a format of the at least one multimedia component.
 2. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising a headerincluding the address data indicative of a transmitter and a recipient.3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, comprising adata field including the at least one multimedia component.
 4. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the at leastone multimedia component comprises visual information, and thepresentation parameters comprise information related to presenting thevisual information.
 5. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one multimedia component comprises audioinformation, and the presentation parameters comprise informationrelated to presenting the audio information.
 6. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the information about thetime of effect of the at least one multimedia component comprises apresentation time of the at least one multimedia component.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein theinformation about the time of effect of the at least one multimediacomponent comprises a time of repeating a presentation of the at leastone multimedia component.
 8. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the at least one multimedia component comprises aplurality of multimedia components and the presentation parametersinclude information about synchronization of the plurality of multimediacomponents.
 9. A method comprising: reserving, by a processor, a spacein a memory for forming a multimedia message; providing in the memoryspace a header including address data indicative of a transmitter and arecipient of the multimedia message; supplying a data field comprisingat least one multimedia component; and supplementing the multimediamessage with a compilation file comprising: presentation parameters forthe at least one multimedia component, wherein the presentationparameters include information about a time of effect of the at leastone multimedia component, and wherein the information about the time ofeffect of the at least one multimedia component comprises a display timeof an image, a text, or a time of sound; a reference to a locationwithin the multimedia message of the at least one multimedia component;and a format of the at least one multimedia component.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the at least one multimedia component comprises visualinformation, and the presentation parameters comprise informationrelated to presenting the visual information.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein the at least one multimedia component comprises audioinformation, and the presentation parameters comprise informationrelated to presenting the audio information.
 12. The method of claim 9,wherein the information about the time of effect of the at least onemultimedia component comprises a presentation time of the at least onemultimedia component.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the informationabout the time of effect of the at least one multimedia componentcomprises a time of repeating a presentation of the at least onemultimedia component.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the at leastone multimedia component comprises a plurality of multimedia componentsand the presentation parameters include information aboutsynchronization of the plurality of multimedia components.
 15. Anapparatus comprising a receiver and a memory, wherein the receiver andmemory are configured to: receive a multimedia message addressed to aterminal; store the multimedia message in the memory transmit anotification message about the multimedia message to the terminal; andtransmit the multimedia message to the terminal, the multimedia messagecomprising: address data indicative of a transmitter and address data ofthe terminal; at least one multimedia component within the multimediamessage; and a compilation file comprising: presentation parameters forthe at least one multimedia component, wherein the presentationparameters include information about a time of effect of the at leastone multimedia component, and wherein the information about the time ofeffect of the at least one multimedia component comprises a display timeof an image, a text, or a time of sound; a reference to a locationwithin the multimedia message of the at least one multimedia component;and a format of the at least one multimedia component.
 16. The apparatusof claim 15, comprising a wireless application gateway for transmittingthe multimedia message to the terminal.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15,comprising a multimedia message service center for receiving themultimedia message and forming the notification message.